Rivera says he will be back for Game 1

NEW YORK -- Yankees closer Mariano Rivera said he plans to
return from a family funeral in Panama on Tuesday in time for Game
1 of the AL championship series against Boston.

Rivera flew home to comfort relatives after two members of his
wife's family were electrocuted in his pool. The ALCS begins
Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

"I am going back to New York tomorrow, after the funeral, and
rejoin the team," Rivera said Monday outside his home in Puerto
Caimito, the fishing village where the accident occurred.

"At this moment, my family is my priority," he said. "I
stopped thinking about baseball the moment I got on the plane."

Early Tuesday, Rivera will attend the funeral of Victor Dario
Avila, a cousin of Rivera's wife, Clara, and Avila's 14-year-old
son. The father was electrocuted when he tried to save his son,
also named Victor, while cleaning the pool at the pitcher's home,
officials said.

The Yankees have arranged for a private plane to bring Rivera
back to New York.

Rivera's agent, Fernando Cuza, told The Associated Press in an
e-mail that the pitcher "should be back in time" for Game 1.

The local police log on the accident said that a suspended
electrical cable fell into the pool while the younger Ayala was in
the water and the father jumped in to try to rescue him.

The chief of the local fire department, Luis Felipe Caceres,
said the only witness was Denis Ballestero, brother-in-law of
Rivera's wife. Ballestero suffered shocks and was released from a
hospital.

On Monday, a tarp had been raised in front of the Avila family's
small zinc-roofed, concrete-walled house next door to Rivera's
mansion.

Eight children, some barefoot, played baseball on a basketball
court nearby, using the basket stands as bases. A heavy downpour
soon drove them away. Many of the men from the town of 3,500 were
at sea, fishing for shrimp.

Rivera's father was a fishermen, as was Avila, who also cleaned
and maintained Rivera's home.

"There's great pain in Puerto Caimito because Victor was a very
well-liked person in town," said a neighbor, Arnulfo Vega, 52,
also a fisherman.

If Rivera doesn't return, it will be the first time since 1997
that Torre won't be able to call on the player who is widely
regarded as the best closer in postseason history.

Rivera saved a postseason-record 23 straight games beginning
with the first of three straight championships in 1998 and ending
in Game 7 of the 2001 series. Rivera has failed to close out a game
only three times in 33 postseason opportunities, including Game 2
of the division series against Minnesota last Wednesday.

Rivera learned of the deaths while celebrating with his
teammates in the clubhouse after the Yankees beat the Minnesota
Twins 6-5 on Saturday to reach the ALCS, with Rivera getting the
win.

The Yankees have dealt with adversity in the past during the
postseason. In 1996, Torre's brother, Frank, underwent heart
transplant surgery, Darryl Strawberry was diagnosed with colon
cancer just before the 1998 playoffs started, and Paul O'Neill's
father died during the 1999 World Series.

"We've gone down the road with this as other people have on
different teams ... But we've been pretty tough, I guess, in
situations like this," Torre said.